Capitalize for Kids and Brain Canada Team Up on National Student Fundraiser

TORONTO, September 25, 2017 – The Capitalize for Kids Student Challenge presented by CIBC Investor’s Edge is giving post-secondary students across Canada an opportunity to gain hands-on portfolio management experience, while giving back by raising funds for children’s brain and mental health. In addition, students will have their impact doubled thanks to a matching grant from Brain Canada.

Participants compete to build a portfolio of real equities with $1 million in virtual currency on an industry-leading trading platform powered by IRESS. Top performers will not only receive major prizes, but also gain access to invaluable networking sessions with senior executives, benefit from mentorship opportunities, and be included in resume screenings and potential job interviews at major financial firms. Instead of paying to register, participants are provided with an online fundraising profile and asked to fundraise for youth mental health.

Since 2014, Capitalize for Kids has engaged the finance community to raise over $5 million in support of children’s brain and mental health programs. Kids Help Phone, Canada’s only national 24-hour phone counseling service for children, has been chosen as the beneficiary of the Student Challenge. “The finance and business community is full of philanthropic leaders,” said Justin Scaini, Associate Director of Capitalize for Kids. “We believe that engaging tomorrow’s leaders and professionals in giving back as early in their careers as possible is essential.”

All funds raised, and a matching grant from Brain Canada through the Canada Brain Research Fund (with financial support from Health Canada), will fund increased capacity at Kids Help Phone. “We are thrilled to partner with Capitalize for Kids to encourage young people to give back to a vital community service like Kids Help Phone,” said Inez Jabalpurwala, President and CEO, Brain Canada.

ABOUT CAPITALIZE FOR KIDS

Capitalize for Kids engages Canada’s finance community in solving the toughest challenges in children's brain and mental health. Since 2014, the organization has raised a combined $5 million through its two major initiatives – the Capitalize for Kids Investors Conference and the Capitalize for Kids Student Challenge. By providing funding and pro-bono consulting services to researchers and service providers, they are helping more kids get access to better care. Beneficiaries include SickKids, Kids Help Phone, and the George Hull Centre.

ABOUT BRAIN CANADA

Brain Canada is a national non-profit organization headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, that enables and supports excellent, innovative, paradigm-changing brain research in Canada. For almost twenty years, Brain Canada has made the case for the brain as a single, complex system with commonalities across the range of neurological disorders, mental illnesses and addictions, brain and spinal cord injuries. Looking at the brain as one system has underscored the need for increased collaboration across disciplines and institutions, and a smarter way to invest in brain research that is focused on outcomes that will benefit patients and families. Brain Canada’s vision is to understand the brain, in health and illness, to improve lives and achieve societal impact.

The Canada Brain Research Fund is a partnership between the Government of Canada and Brain Canada, designed to encourage Canadians to increase their support of brain research, and maximize the impact and efficiency of those investments. Brain Canada and its partners have committed to raising $120M, which is being matched by Health Canada on a 1:1 basis for a total of up to $240M. For more information: www.braincanada.ca.